Education programs can provide a "warm" handoff to adult employment services
Transition programs and post-secondary programs for young people with disabilities are building in an increasing amount of real-world,...
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Effective future planning is a family affair.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting another prospective client family. An initial meeting is the time for the clients to tell me...
Think it's hard to catch the Quidditch "Snitch"? Try figuring out which benefits fit you!
In my favorite science fiction TV series, Star Trek, the characters sometimes play a three-dimensional version of chess. In the Harry...
How to overcome the challenge of obtaining Medicaid eligibility
In the Aesop fable “The Crow and the Pitcher”, a crow drops stones one by one into the neck of a tall, narrow pitcher. Before it dropped...
If you receive SSI or SSDI, it is crucial to track and report your income!
Here in greater Chicago, and (I expect in many other densely urban settings) we frequently think of distance in terms of time. When I am...
Why you might want to be part of a "special group of former SSI recipients".
“Former” can signify respect—“Former president”, or “Former Olympic athlete”. Or nostalgia—“Former member of the rock band Journey” or...
The importance of being early:
The plot of the Oscar Wilde comedic play “The Importance of being Earnest” revolves around the romantic advantages that accrue to a...
529, ABLE or both for your child with a disability?
When my sons are not playing video games, they like things with wheels. Last summer, we got them larger mountain-type bicycles. They...
Supported decision-making is now a legal process in Illinois. Just what is it?
The word “guardian” in the popular lexicon has both positive and negative connotations. The “Guardians of the Galaxy,” in the Marvel...
Your heart should react. Your financial plan should not.
Horrifying pictures of dead children on hospital stretchers, covered with blood-soaked sheets. Disturbing photos of burnt-out...
Make the transition years count for your student with a disability
As a financial and benefits planner for people with disabilities and their families, I am excited when clients first come to work with...
How you save for retirement now affects your future financial and tax health
My late grandmother once said: “They didn’t have cholesterol when I was a girl!” in response to some family member trying to discourage...
It takes a team to make your financial plan successful
Before I worked as a financial planner, I was the executive director of L’Arche Chicago, the small local chapter of an international...
It is easiest to apply for Social Security and Medicaid immediately at age 18
Every time I use a certain gas station near my children’s school, I am prompted to scan my rewards card. Since I don’t have one, I am...
Your pension might reduce the Social Security benefits that your adult child receives
My own children as well as some of the students that I teach are getting excited for Halloween. Besides free candy, the attraction of...
A good DSP (Direct Support Professional) is a valuable find
September 12-18, 2021 is Direct Support Professionals’ (DSPs’) week. If you are a person with a disability, who needs support or are the...
The challenge of counting earned, unearned and in-kind income for Social Security purposes
Although I probably found him a bit frightening as a toddler, one of my favorite Sesame Street characters, in reminiscence, is Count von...
Medicaid Waivers: A (Partial) Backstory
I am a big fan of Star Trek and have watched every series from the reruns of the original series that fueled my childhood imagination to...
Some long and winding roads...to Medicaid eligibility
The “Rerouting” function on my GPS is alternatively really helpful and impossible. Sometimes, when I miss a turn or misinterpret a step,...
Several roads lead to Medicaid eligibility
When they bike, my kids conflate “shortcut” with “alternate route”. I have given up explaining that if you start at the same place, end...